Volleyball Travels to Salt Lake City for Westminster Invitational

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The second four-match tournament of the season arrives this week for the Western New Mexico University volleyball team when they will compete in the Westminster Invitational Friday and Saturday.
The Lady Mustangs will face Harding and host Westminster on Friday and then they will go against Malone and West Alabama on Saturday.

WNMU went 0-4 at the Oredigger Classic last weekend falling in a close five-set match to Regis, before dropping 3-0 matches to Colorado Mesa, Wayne State and Colorado Mines. Freshman Sarai Migao (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) leads the team in kills with 28, followed by 27 from senior Alanna Watt (Hague, Saskatchewan/Hague) and 26 by senior Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy). Sophomore Cristal Carrizoza (Phoenix, AZ/North) set the table with 75 assists, while sophomore Sophia Mitchell (Katy, TX/Taylor) added 45. On defense, senior Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku) leads the way in digs with 65, while sophomore Hannah Tishlarich (Elk Grove, CA/Pleasant Grove) has sent back 12 blocks.

The Lady Mustangs will face Harding first on Friday at noon. The Bisons are off to a 5-0 start with wins against LeMoyne-Owen, Tuskegee, Alabama-Huntsville, Trevecca Nazarene and Auburn-Montgomery, with three of the wins coming 3-0. A trio have over 43 kills led by Taylor Mounts' 48, while Emily Clayton adds 46 and Zoe Hardin with 43. Rachel Heussner has 168 assists, while on defense Taylor Lake has 45 digs and Emily Smith has sent back 12 blocks.

To close Friday the Lady Mustangs will go against host Westminster at 6 p.m. The Griffins and WNMU faced each other back in 2015 as Westminster was transitioning into the RMAC. WNMU took that match 3-0 in Silver City. It's been a tough start to the year for the Griffins as they are 0-4 having lost three of the match 3-0. They won their first set of the year against CSU-Dominguez Hills this past Saturday. Taylor Harvey and Audrey Green lead the team in kills with 17 apiece. Mallory Powell has 38 assists, while on defense Kelsie French has 32 digs and Katie Hutchings has six blocks.

On Saturday, WNMU will open against Malone at 10 a.m. The Pioneers are 4-0 with wins against Charleston, West Alabama, Mercyhurst and Northwood, two were via 3-0 marks. Mallory Adams leads the team with 44 kills, while Cathryn Miller has 136 assists. On defense Maggie Hamrock has 63 digs and Adams has sent back 20 blocks.

To close the tournament, the Lady Mustangs will face West Alabama at 4 p.m. The Tigers went 2-2 at the Malone Tournament to start the year, dropping their first two before finishing with wins against Mercyhurst and Charleston. Taylin McCarver has a team-best 48 kills, while Kassie Till has 94 assists. On defense, Alex Fuelling has 60 digs and Taylor Donato has sent back 10 blocks.

Live stats will be available for all four matches and can be found here.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Cristal Carrizoza: S; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#23 Ashley Mataele: DS; 5' 7"; Senior

#7 Kelli McGhiey: OH/MB; 6' 0"; Senior

#4 Hannah Tishlarich: MB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#13 Alanna Watt: OH; 5' 9"; Senior

#24 Sarai Migao: OH; 5' 9"; Freshman

#10 Sophia Mitchell: S; 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#1 Cristal Carrizoza
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: S

#23 Ashley Mataele
: 5' 7"; Senior
: DS

#7 Kelli McGhiey
: 6' 0"; Senior
: OH/MB

#4 Hannah Tishlarich
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB

#13 Alanna Watt
: 5' 9"; Senior
: OH

#24 Sarai Migao
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: OH

#10 Sophia Mitchell
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: S